Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Good evening to you! Thanksgiving was good here, we had a good time of food, fellowship, and games at the Bailey's house (friends from church) they also had our Singaporean pastors over. We got to watch a recorded Monday night football game (Patriots vs. Chiefs), Bible Trivia, and Hoopla! We got home rather late.

Then on Saturday we had basketball games to play. The girls won the consolation championship (3rd place). While both of the guys teams lost the championship games and got second. We played well, but were simply up against a better team (especially the older boys). The younger team made a couple of runs that brought us within 1 or 2 points, but would follow it up by letting UWC score 6 or 7 to pull ahead again. It was fun though!

On Sunday I went to a chess tournament to watch one of my students. 2 or 3 years ago he won the Singapore National Chess Title. It was incredible to watch this caliber of play. There were 2 grand masters, an olympean, as well as Ino and a bunch of other really good players! It was incredible how fast their minds worked. This was especially evident when they would analyze the games after completing them! Ino ended up getting 3rd place. Ino has been a great asset to have at chess club each week!

Wow, the last day of November! I can't believe Christmas is almost here! We end the semester before Christmas, so we have two weeks of normal school, than a week of exams. Pray for me as I finish up different subjects before the break.

Thursday, November 25, 2004

I can't believe it is already Thanksgiving! This past month has just flown by!

Two weeks ago we had a five-day weekend and were able to spend some time with fellow teachers in Malaysia. It was a much needed rest as the first days off since the year started.

The past couple of weeks have been full of basketball! Both the U16 and the Open teams have been finishing regular seasons, and then having playoff games. Last week the U16 team won the semi-final match to qualify for the finals this coming Saturday. Monday the Open boys played a tough Quarterfinal game and won with four points in the last 10 seconds. The semi-finals were scheduled for Tuesday, but the game was rained out! So we found a place that we could use a gym and played Wednesday. It was another close game, and this time we won on a jump shot with 2 seconds on the clock! So, both of the boys teams will be playing in the finals on Saturday, and the Girls team will be playing in the Consolation Championship. So Saturday will be another full basketball day. But, then the season is over, and there will be a little more free time!

It is hard to think of this as Thanksgiving, not only is it warm out, but it isn't a holiday here. Everyone is working like normal. But I do have the day off! This morning I went with Betsy to the RDA to watch her work with the horses and the kids. I took a few pictures and will post some later.

This evening we will be going to some friends from church to celebrate Thanksgiving. He recorded some football games, so we'll watch football and eat turkey and pumpkin pie! It won't be the Thanksgiving we are used to, but it will be fun. We will definitely be missing our family though.

Please be praying for us in this holiday season as we are spending this time away from family. Most times it isn't too bad, but occasionally it hits us.

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Well, the rainy season has arrived. For the past few days there have been around two hours of pouring rain, thunder, and lightning. Early this week as I was leaving school I got to the exit from the school to find a small pond, about 20 feet across, and as deep as 5 inches. I didn't want to go all the way back to the other side of the campus, so I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants and waded across. It is nice to have a warm rain and be able to do that.

It has been a crazy week here. Betsy and I have been tracking the race by listening to Rush Limbaugh online in the evenings. We actually sent our ballots in a couple of weeks ago, so it was just a matter of watching what would happen. It was weird not being able to see any results til Wednesday morning, but it also meant I didn't have to stay up late to see the results! By Wednesday night when we went to bed, it wasn't official. But this morning the first place I went was the news page and saw the great headline of Kerry's concession! We continue to pray that God will be working in President Bush and in our great country!